Welcome to Medical News Today

Healthline Media, Inc. would like to process and share personal data (e.g., mobile ad id) and data about your use of our site (e.g., content interests) with our third party partners (see a current list) using cookies and similar automatic collection tools in order to a) personalize content and/or offers on our site or other sites, b) communicate with you upon request, and/or c) for additional reasons upon notice and, when applicable, with your consent.

Healthline Media, Inc. is based in and operates this site from the United States. Any data you provide will be primarily stored and processed in the United States, pursuant to the laws of the United States, which may provide lesser privacy protections than European Economic Area countries.

By clicking “accept” below, you acknowledge and grant your consent for these activities unless and until you withdraw your consent using our rights request form. Learn more in our Privacy Policy.

Please accept our privacy terms

We use cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience, personalize content and offers, show targeted ads, analyze traffic, and better understand you. We may share your information with third-party partners for marketing purposes. To learn more and make choices about data use, visit our Advertising Policy and Privacy Policy. By clicking “Accept and Continue” below, (1) you consent to these activities unless and until you withdraw your consent using our rights request form, and (2) you consent to allow your data to be transferred, processed, and stored in the United States.

Get the MNT newsletter

Email an article

You have chosen to share the following article:

How elderberries can help you fight the flu

To proceed, simply complete the form below, and a link to the article will be sent by email on your behalf.Note: Please don't include any URLs in your comments, as they will be removed upon submission.

We do not store details you enter into this form. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

How common are food allergies, really?

Food allergies are a widespread problem. However, while many adults in the United States are convinced that certain food items will cause them to have an allergic reaction, a new study reports that their fears are likely unfounded.

Food allergies are common but not nearly as widespread as people may believe.

The FDA have estimated that these foods and their derivates are responsible for around 90 percent of all allergic reactions.

These can range from uncomfortable — though not usually dangerous — symptoms, such as itchy skin and diarrhea, to a potentially life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis.

In anaphylaxis, the human body overreacts to allergenic substances. It causes extreme symptoms in different parts of the body, all at the same time. A person who is experiencing anaphylaxis always requires immediate medical attention.

However, although millions of people do live with food allergies, many more mistakenly believe that they have an allergy. In reality, these people are unlikely to come to any harm.

This is the conclusion of a recent study conducted by researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University in Evanston, both in Illinois.

The findings, which appear in the journal JAMA Network Open, suggest that almost 1 in 5 adults in the United States think that they have a food allergy, while only about 1 in 10 actually do.

19 percent of adults believe they are allergic

The research team — led by Dr. Ruchi Gupta — analyzed data derived from a representative survey that collected information from more than 40,000 adults based in the U.S.

An estimated 26 million, or over 10 percent, of U.S. adults do have a food allergy, but Dr. Gupta and colleagues found that around 19 percent of U.S. adults believe that they are allergic to certain foods.

However, their beliefs seem to be mistaken; the symptoms they report do not point in the direction of food allergies.

"While we found that 1 in 10 adults have [a] food allergy, nearly twice as many adults think that they are allergic to foods, while their symptoms may suggest food intolerance or other food-related conditions," explains Dr. Gupta.

Many people, she suggests, may begin to fear that they are allergic when their reactions are, in fact, due to other conditions.

"It is important to see a physician for appropriate testing and diagnosis before completely eliminating foods from the diet," says Dr. Gupta, adding:

"If food allergy is confirmed, understanding the management is also critical, including recognizing symptoms of anaphylaxis and how and when to use epinephrine."

Dr. Ruchi Gupta

The most common allergies among adults

Of all survey respondents, even among those who reported symptoms that seemed consistent with a food allergy, specialists had only diagnosed allergies in around half of them.

Also, among people with clinically diagnosed food allergies, under 25 percent held a prescription for epinephrine, which people use to treat severe allergic reactions.

Another interesting finding of the study is that almost half of the adults with food allergies had developed at least one of their allergies in adulthood.

"We were surprised to find that adult-onset food allergies were so common. More research is needed to understand why this is occurring and how we might prevent it," says Dr. Gupta.

When they looked at the specifics of food allergies among U.S. adults, the researchers found that the most common ones were:

shellfish (7.2 million)

milk (4.7 million)

peanuts (4.5 million)

tree nuts (3 million)

fin fish (2.2 million)

eggs (2 million)

wheat (2 million)

soy (1.5 million)

sesame (0.5 million)

"Our data show," explains Dr. Gupta, "that shellfish is the top food allergen in adults, that shellfish allergy commonly begins in adulthood, and that this allergy is remarkably common across the lifespan."

Still, it remains unclear as to why so many adults are allergic to shellfish, and how to prevent the development of this allergy.

"We need more studies to clarify why shellfish allergy appears to be so common and persistent among U.S. adults," Dr. Gupta concludes.

2019 Healthline Media UK Ltd. All rights reserved. MNT is the registered trade mark of Healthline Media. Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.